To make things easier for local governments to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic, Brazilian lawmakers placed the country under a “state of calamity” in March, which lifts many of the controls imposed by strict public spending laws, allowing contracts to be fast-tracked and public bidding processes to be skipped. However, more cynical observers saw the move as a license to embezzle public funds. “If we have problems with the checks-and-balances systems when they are working, imagine what happens when they’re switched off,” said former Congressman Roberto Jefferson — who has already done time for corruption — in an...
